


Sound it Out

by orphan_account



Series: Confusing Reactions [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, idk TAGS, ridiculously slow relationship development
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-19
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-25 13:06:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9821834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Keith's been wearing headphones for hours. Not for music, but to block the silence.Lance can give the same effect though, and Keith is damn ready to stop wearing them.Part 3 of "Confusing Reactions"





	

**Author's Note:**

> I legit know nothing about building relationships in writing. But you have to learn how to write them, or your ships will sink.

Keith twitches on the couch as the door opens, the sound an intolerable grind even past the sound-cancelling headphones he wore. He turns unerringly  towards the opening, identifying an instant before he sees that it is Hunk.

The yellow paladin was humming something vaguely familiar as he headed towards the kitchen, but Keith couldn't place it. He noted and briefly acknowledged the recognition and quiet wave the taller young man offers, too tired to tolerate even the sound of his own voice.

It had been a rough battle today, too loud and fast for Keith to keep up, and his head had pounded with every crackle of energy, every crunch his bayard had given off as he tore through sentries. He'd found a nice new trait out from his damn Galran side, and it had  _hurt_ when he'd first noticed.

Hurt as in nearly getting his eardrums burst. They still hurt, even if they were the same shape as normal, though his thicker Galran skin had turned them purple. Explosions were  _not_ fun with Galra hearing, and Keith briefly wondered if that was why there were so few actual Galra on board most patrol ships, rather than simple lack of numbers to spread across the universe. Because they weren't the kind of thing you wanted to wake up to.

He flushed, angry and embarrassed again as he recalled waking up in the middle of the fight, because he'd actually collapsed at the shock of sound. Hearing nothing but painful ringing, Lance gripping his arm and struggling under his dead weight,  _knowing_ the blue paladin was yelling under that high pitch. The hard crush of the other paladins, trying to hold their position in the worst place, to give Keith time to recover.

They had all made it out with no more than standard cuts and bruises, save for Keith's ears, but it had been their worst victory in weeks, and Keith felt incredibly inclined to do no more than tear apart gladiators in the training arena... but he'd barely been able to tolerate the happy vocalizations once his hearing returned. Coran had mentioned his hearing would be oversensitive for a while, and Keith hoped it wouldn't last much longer.

So here he was, sitting in the lounge nearest the bedrooms, Pidge's headphones on but silent, simply trying to regain some semblance of quiet.

Because the ship was loud, so loud he'd actually asked Allura if there was something wrong with the ship, to make those normally gentle hums and whirs in the walls sound like overdramatized gore sounds in a horror movie. And Shiro's arm, sweet hell it sounded like being next to a whistling train. Keith hoped he hadn't hurt the black paladin's feelings when he flinched away from contact on their return.

It had been a rather brutal way to figure out this new part. He just hoped he could turn it off, or muffle it somehow, because this was ridiculous. He could actually _hear_  heartbeats, hear Hunk's steady pulse from the far end of the couch, the mice that seemed to congregate whenever he cooked,  _hear the damn loud-ass door slide open and footsteps coming towards him._

He glared up at Lance, not in the mood for confrontation or rivalry. Not in the mood for Lance and his voice.

"Hey."

Huh. Lance had barely breathed the word, but it seemed just fine for Keith. Was Lance sick or something? He narrowed his eyes at the blue paladin, making sure to convey every inch of his exhaustion, but still slightly concerned.

Apparently Lance didn't get the message, because he sat down right next to Keith and sighed, a drawn out sound, rolling his neck and shoulders. Keith hears every joint pop, grisly and almost wet.

His stomach sours, and he clenches his teeth, trying to ignore the grind of his own jaw. 

"What?" The sound hurts. But not too badly.

"So... ever think your hearing problems might be thanks to your ear shape?"

The question is absurb, and Keith  _almost_ smiles. He crosses his arms over his chest, waiting for Lance to continue.

Lance squirms slightly.

"It's just, ears are designed for a specific purpose, and your ears and your hearing don't exactly match, you know." Lance  is raising his voice as he warms to the subject, and Keith notices that he's gripping something in his hands.

"Think about it. Human ears are kinda open, and our hearing's realitively weak. Alteans have those long narrow ears, and they're really good at differentiating noises. Galra..."

"Have bat ears. Fluffy bat ears." Keith wrinkled his nose. "Your point?"

"What if we changed your ear shape?"

Keith stared at the blue paladin. Lance's heartbeat was stuttering. Why?

"I am not going to use cosmetic alteration to make myself look  _more_ Galra. My ears are already a bit pointed," Keith growled slightly. Lance instantly shoook his head, starting to hold out the thing he'd been gripping nervously.

"N-no! Nothing that drastic, but, um, I made some earmuffs that mimic the shape?" Lance grimaced nervously.

Keith stared flatly.

Lance's grimace grew tighter.

The red paladin burst out laughing.

Lance scowled as Keith cackled himself into stiches, face as red as the Voltron lion herself.

It was only when actual tears ran down his face that he stopped laughing, instead gasping for air and chuckling. He glanced over at Lance, nearly breaking into a giggling fit again at the red face he sported.

"I was just trying to help," Lance muttered. Keith snorted, then gasped heavily to regain his breath. He's fighting down a grin.

"I know." The laughter hurts his head. "But, it's not, not Galra ears that are... the problem." He has to fight each word through the stich in his side, still grinding past chuckles.

Lance  _almost_ pouted. Almost.

Keith forced himself to sober up. He ignored the clenching in his chest, aftershocks of laughter.

"I'm trying to help. And you're laughing at me," Lance muttered almost angrily.

Keith almost laughed again, but tears the impulse to shreds. "I'm just saying that my hearing isn't that bad. But I do have Galran eardrums, and they respond to loud noises by making everything easier to hear." He has no clue why. His ears had still been ringing a bit when Coran explained. He didn't even know eardrums _could_  'respond'.

Lance nods thoughtfully, blue eyes narrowed. " Well, shouldn't we get you used to dealing with loud noises then?" His voice is at its normal volume, too loud again.

"Your voice is too loud even when my ears aren't affected by some stupid Galra genes," Keith grumbled.

"Well, Galra soldiers aren't exactly going to fight quieter because you aren't used to the noise," Lance says, completely right.

Keith is irritated again. "So what?" He fidgeted, trying to ignore the squelch of the leather-like couch he sat on. "Your brain is showing again," He tried to redirect.

Wonder of wonders, Lance doesn't so much as twitch at the insult. His eyes are serious, nearly black.

"Take off the headphones for a while."

Keith glares, then slowly removes them. Lance's eyes widen, at the sight of purple skin Keith has to guess. 

Keith is mildly surprised at how little sound the headphones actually blocked. He could hear Lance's heartbeat, slightly fast for some reason, but his hearing wasn't much better otherwise. Maybe his ears were recovering somewhat.

Lance muttered something in Spanish, too fast and liquid for Keith to even pick out the words. Not that he really understood Spanish beyond basic Dora the Explorer education. He did know it was more surprised by the general tone. "What?"

"Your ears look like someone tried giving you a black eye," Lance said quickly, face reddening, and Keith noticed his pulse jumped oddly. Why?

The red paladin nearly jumped out of his skin when Hunk began cackling loudly in the kitchen, apparently having translated Lance's sentence. The blue paladin squeaked, not knowing Hunk was there.

"Shut up, Hunk!" Lance was bright red again, and Keith wondered if the comment wasn't so innocent as Lance claimed.

He snickered again.

The noise didn't seem so bad suddenly.

**Author's Note:**

> This is going 90 years slower than I want it to, why.
> 
> Also Lance was thinking Keith's pointed ears are cute. And Hunk is fluent enough to laugh at him.


End file.
